Automatic combination-lock



' F. B. ASHTON. AUTOMATIC COMBINATION LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED MAILZZ. 1920.

Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

LSQS GZL .FRED B. asn'ro v, or orrrcneo, ILLINOIS.

rare

AUTOMATIC COMBINATION-LOCK.

1,3&8,621.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

Application filed March 22, 1920. Serial No. 367,977.

Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented 'a new andusefuh Automatic Combination-Lock, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention mainly relates to an proved method by which a door to which the lock is attached will be automatically locked when closed, and is intended primarily for post oflice boxes, but will be useful for other purposes. The operation of setting the dial indicator on certain num bers and pressing the thumb lever to'draw back the bolt to open the door is similar to practically all other combination looks, The

moment the lever is released, however, the,

mechanism disarranges' the tumblers so that the. bolt: cannot be again drawn back until the indicator is set on the combination numbers as before. Both tumblers, are disarranged but to an indefinite extent, and the dial indicator moved, which absolutely precludes an unauthorized person from open= ing the box. p a

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which-- n i o r Figure 1 is a view of the front of the door showing the location of the glass, the construction of the dial andtwo numbers thereon, and one hinge; the face of the. door being broken away to show practically the entire mechanism inclosed' in a casing attached to the rearofthe door. Only the front tumbler can be seen in the drawing, but the rear one is constructed the same except that the hole in the center is round instead of octagonal. In this figure the gates in the peripheryof the tumblers are set ready for opening the door. Fig. 2 is the casing inclosing the lock mechanism, removed from the door plate, with the parts in the position they take when the door bolt is retracted by pressure on the thumb lever on the outside to open the door, and before the pressure is removed, and with the automatic dog engaged in one of several oblique notches in the periphery of the tumblers by which the tumblers are rotated when the pressure is removed. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the assembled parts looking down from the line 3-3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe door bolt and the sleeve around it.

B Asrrroii,

Fig. isa view of the vertical lever which operates the automatic bolt and dog, the

, tongue in thecenter of which enters the gates in the tumblers when door'is opened. Figis a perspective view of the automatic dog-which is bent over and pivoted on the automatic bolt at the left end, with a slot in the portion bent downward showing on its right end throughwhich the automatic bolt extends. if I Similar numbers refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views. I

As shown in Fig. 3,.knob 2 and dial indicator 3 are integral with indicator shaft 2 extending through door 1 and ashoulder 1 integral with and extending inwardlyjfrom door frame 1. Against thisshoulder tumbler 7 is mounted on the indicator shaft on an'octagon portion 6, so that when the shaft is turned by the lmob this tumbler turns also. Tumbler Thas numerous holes near the outer edge of same for the reception of a'pin,'w-hich, by. using different holes in the insertion of the pin, varies the combination numbers. Further variance of combination numbers may be had by perforating the :tumblers so that the holes bear a difierent location with relation to the gates. The pin in tumbler 7 extends inwardly, and the one in tumbler 10 extends outwardly as shown in Fig. 3 and indicated by numbers 8 and 9 respectively, so that in the rotation of tumbler 7 by turning the knob on the outside, pin 8 comes in contact withpin 9 and the inner tumbler is-rotated. The point for opening may be determined by watching for thegates in the tumblers to appear even with the sides of the opening 12 in the rear of the lock casing. An immovable washer is inserted between the two tumblers so that the rotation of one does not affect the other except by the contact of the pins. Tumbler 10 is mounted on a bushing fastened in the back of the lock casing rigidly. After turning theknob until one tumbler is set as indicated above, the knob is turned in the opposite direction until the gate on the other tumbler isoset opposite the opening in the back. The lock is now setfor the opening of the door and tongue 19 on the vertical lever (Fig. 5) standsopposite the gates and ready to enter when the door bolt is retracted. The numbers of the combination are ascertained by watching where the dial indicator stands when the'tumbler is set. The tumblers being set for the openthrough a slot in flat sprin sleeve 28, by means of which the door bolt is retracted by the operation of the thumb lever 13. Normally the door bolt is held in engagement behind the door frame by the pressure of coiled spring 15 in housing l l" through guide 14. The bolt sleeve 28' does 7 not completely encircle the bolt 1%, but is upturned on the sides at the rear end to form notches 27, for the reception oil the lower end of vertical lever 16 for theactuation of said lever. Vertical lever 16 is pivoted on pin 17 from a bent strip to the rear of the lock casing, so that when the door bolt is retracted the lower end of the vertical lever 16 is carried rearward, the.

tongue 19 of the lever entering the gates in the tumblers, and the upper end of the lever coming'in contact with automatic bolt 20 forcing it to the left. Automatic bolt 20 operates through a slot in bent portion 21 of lock casing at at the right end'and through a similar slot in the side of lock casing 4; at the left end. It also passes through a slot in automatic dog 23 (Fig, '6),between the folds of the dog at the other end, and g 22. i iutomatic dog 23 is fastened to the automatic bolt 20 by means of a riveted pin 24. so that the dog has a slight up and down motion. The left or front end of the dog rests against iat springv 22 at all times, which keeps it nor mally against bent strip 21, and at all times the nose of the dog is kept down. hen the vertical lever 16 is moved by retraction of the bolt 14:, automatic bolt 20 is pushed toward the front, carrying automatic dog 23 vith it, and the nose of the dog being held down by the action of the flat spring 22, it drags over the ratchet, or oblique notches in the periphery of the tumblers, so that when the thumb pressure has reached its limit the nose of the dog enters one of these notches. Pressure on thumb lever 13 being removed, coiled spring 15 forces door bolt toward the front of the door and this movement removes the upper end of vertical lever 16 from contact with the right hand end of automatic bolt 20. The action of the flat spring 22 against dog 23 cannot rotate the tumblers until the tongue 19 on lever 16 has entirely left the gates, so that there is considerable space between the end of the automatic bolt and end of vertical lever when the gates are cleared. Flat spring 22 now forces automatic bolt 20 and dog 23 rearward with a snap, rotating'both tumblers quickly so that tongue 19 cannot again enter the gates. This action rotates the tumblers an indefinite distance depending upon the resistance encountered by the flat spring, which varies in the same as well as different locks. Thisis a decided improvement over'those locks where only one tumbler is rotated leaving the dial indicator on might result in some person being familiar Y withthis fact from the operation of their own box, ascertaining the combination of some other. It will be observed that the nose of dog 23 at rest stands well out of the path of the tumblers to permit them to be properly set for opening.

New combination numbers may be made by loosening the screw 5 at rear end of indicator shaft 2 three or four turns, pulling knob 2 outward, turning aroun'din either direction, pushing it bark again and tightem ing screw 5. The numbers of the new combination are ascertained by watching through opening-12 in rear'of lockcasing 4.- until theinner tumblers gate is even with the sides of the opening, reversingthe knob and turning until-the outer tumblers gate is also even, noting the number on which the dial indicatorstops each time, whether it is an-even, half or quarter number;

The door .may be opened from the inside 7 by pressing backward against screw: pin 32 (Figzji) in slot 31, the slotpermitting movement of the bolt independently of the bolt sleeve and the lock mechanism; This arrangement also permits the .door to be closed after being opened, which would otherwise be. impossible, the tumblers having been disarranged when the door was opened.

The delinquent renter may be locked out by theinsertion of an ordinary nail or other small'articlein'the hole 27 in door bolt l4; just in front of coiled spring housing l i- (Fig. 4;). a some shghtchanges 1n construction and arrangement of parts'may be necessaryto reach the desired objects and promote further .eiliciency without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. There fore I desire it understood that I do not wish to confine myself absolutely to the ex act construction and arrangement shown in the drawing and specifications. 'Having described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent is: i t 1. In an automatic combination lock, the combination with a door, a door bolt held in" engagement with the door frame by a coiled spring in a housing integral with the door,

a dial on the door, an indicator shaft the structed in an octagon shape to actuate a tumbler, and two tumblers; of a sleeve around the door bolt with a slot to receive a screw pin inserted in the door belt, a screw pin so inserted to limit the movement of the door bolt, with a knob extending to the outside ofthe door riveted to the sleeve, the sleeves two upturned sides notched at the rear end to receive and actuate a vertical lever, said lever being adapted to actuate an automatic bolt at its other end, said bolt carrying a dog adapted to engage the two tumblers and actuate them, substantially as specified.

2. In an automatic combination lock, the combination with a door, a door bolt, a dial on the door, an indicator shaft the outer end of which forms a knob and indicator, with a section of said shaft constructed in an octagon shape to actuate a tumbler, two tumblers, and a sleeve around the belt, a screw pin inserted in the door bolt through a slot in the sleeve, a knob riveted to the sleeve and extending to the outside of the door, the two upturned sides of the rear end of the sleeve notched to receive and actuate a vertical lever; 01": a vertical lever pivoted on a pin extending from the rear of the lock casing to a 'bent strip of same, actuated by its lower end entering notches in the bolt sleeve, a tongue to enter the gates in the periphery of the tumblers when set for opening, the upper end of said lever being adapted to the actuation of an automatic bolt carrying a dog adapted to engaging with the two tumblers by oblique notches in the periphery of said tumblers to rotate them, substantially as specified.

3.-In an automatic combination lock, the combination with a door, a door bolt, a dial on the door, an indicator shaft the outer end of which forms a knob and indicator, with a section of said shaft constructed in an octagon shape to actuate a tumbler, two tumblers, a sleeve around the door belt, a screw pin in the door bolt inserted through a slot in the sleeve, a knob riveted to the sleeve and extending to the outside of the door, the two upturned sides of the sleeve at the rear end notched to receive and actuate a vertical lever, a vertical lever pivoted on a pin from one side of the casing to a bent strip on the other side, a tongue to enter gates in the periphery of the tumblers when set for opening and with its upper end adapted to actuate an automatic bolt; of an automatic bolt sliding through a slot in a bent strip of the lock casing, a slot in a flat spring and another slot in the side'of the lock casin said automatic bolt carr in a dog adapted to engage with notches in the periphery of the two tumblers and rotate them, said flat spring being adapted to forcing theautomatic bolt back to normal posi tion, and bearing upon the upper side of the small end of the dog forcing the dog into engagement with the tumblers, substantially and extending to the outside of the door, the

sides of the sleeve notched to receive and actuate a vertical lever, a vertical lever pivoted on a pin from the rear of the lock casing to a bent stripoi same, a tongue on the lever to enter the gates in the tumblers when set for opening, the upper end of the lever adapted to the actuation of an automatic bolt, a dog mounted on the bolt to enwith the two tumblers by notches in their periphery to rotate them, a flat spring tastened'to the side of the lock casing to force the automatic bolt into normal position and the nose of the dog into the notches in the periphery of the tumblers of a lock casing bent on three sides to form a housing for the lock mechanism, a bent strip for the insertion of a pin on which the vertical lever is pivoted, and another bent strip for a slot through which the automatic bolt slides, said lock casing having another slot in its side for the automatic bolt, and a bushing inserted in rear upon which one tumblerro tates, substantially as specified.

In witness whereof}: have hereunto ailiXed my signature 1n the presence of witnesses herein named.

FRED B. ASHTON. Witnesses:

' M. J. PAus,

HARRY Knusnn. 

